The tall and short of it!

Iran fans with vuvuzelas ahead of the match against England outside the Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, yesterday. Pic/Ashwin Ferro

The Netherlands may not have the tallest achievement when it comes to the World Cup, considering they have never won it before, but they do have the tallest player in their ranks at this World Cup in goalkeeper Andries Noppert Heerenveen, who stands a whopping 203cm tall (six feet, seven-inches).

The shortest, and, no, Lionel Messi (170cm/five feet, seven) is not even close, is Morocco's Ilias Chair (164cm/five feet, four).

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Meanwhile, the oldest player at this edition is Mexican goalie Alfredo Talavera (40 years, 63 days) while the youngest is Germany's teenage sensation Youssoufa Moukoko, who turned 18 on the opening day of the tournament (November 20).

Vuvuzelas return

The vuvuzelas came out in large numbers ahead of the England v Iran match here as some of the Iranian fans tried to match their English rivals' vocal chords with their wind instruments. The vuvuzelas were first seen at the 2010 edition in South Africa and have continued to make quite a buzzing noise since. This bunch of Iranian supporters were seen blowing their vuvuzelas even before the game began, outside the Khalifa Stadium. Unfortunately for them, their ‘trumpets' would have fallen silent prematurely considering the Englishmen were 3-0 up at half-time itself.